You can tell it’s almost fall because Mark Robinson at the RTD has the first article about leaf collection of the season! Remember: We’re all paying slightly higher solid waste fees so that we’ll theoretically get fortnightly curbside bulk and brush pickup. That service hasn’t yet started, which some people are miffed about. I say we give the Department of Public Works a pass on the delay and, instead, slow clap them for their much-improved bulk and brush work over the past year: “Last September, the department had 2,630 open bulk trash removal requests, about half of which were more than four weeks old. At the end of August, the department had 265 open requests, 96 percent of which were less than two weeks old.” Whoa, impressive! Pair that with the news that DPW just filled their 20,000th pothole since January 1st, and it looks like we might be taking small steps towards stablizing some basic services? Baby steps!

This morning's longread

Every aspect of Vespertine is borderline absurd. As you approach the building, you're greeted by a grating, machine-like compilation of sounds emanating from a particularly labor-intensive art piece built into the ground. The sonic dissonance is engineered to make you uncomfortable, so much so that when you finally enter the building itself, you'll feel a sense of relief. (The idea is cribbed from a Frank Lloyd Wright concept that involves a long, claustrophobic hallway that opens up into an expansive room.) The dining room’s carpet is actually merino wool that doesn’t absorb liquid. The building, according to Kahn’s constructed mythology, “is a machine artifact from an extraterrestrial planet that was left here like a billion years ago by a species that were moon worshippers.” The labels on your fancy wine glasses will be etched off, because “those are all markers that remind people that they’re still on Earth.” Vespertine has a feminine energy, and the general manager has her own unique dress and a custom-made ceramic cuff for her arm, which Kahn gushes over. He tells me the building "has its own gravity."